Tapered wire rope and method of making the same



w. E. CRAIG Dec. 30, 1930..

TAPERED WIRE ROPE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed July 7, 1928 mime/13s avwemtoz Patented Dec. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

WILLIAM. E. CRAIG, OI TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOE TO JOHN A. BOEBLINGS SONS COMPANY, 01 TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY TAPEBED WIRE ROPE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Application filed July 7, 1928.' Serial No. 291,015.

This invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing wire ropes for mining and drilling operations and to the tapered wire rope produced thereby. Various 5 methods have been proposed for producing tapered wire ropes, as by reducing the size of the wires forming the strands, or by the omission of some of the strand wires, or by combining both these methods, but these 1" ropes have been very expensive to manufacture and the results secured thereby have not been satisfactory from an operating standpoint.

The especial object of the invention is to provide a tapered wire ro e which is cheap to manufacture, eflicient in operation, and arran ed to develop the full strength of the rope t roughout its length.

For a full understanding of the invention,

a detailed description of the invention in its preferred, form will now be given in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and the features forming the invention then specifigg cally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view partly broken awa Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are sections on respectively lines 2-2, 3-3, 44,and55 of igure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the rope shown comprises a central hemp core 1, about which are laid seven strands 2, each comprising nineteen wires 3, but which may comprise any suitable number of strands and wires laid in an desired manner.

11 accordance with the present invention, when it is desired to reduce the size of the rope, one of the strands 2, as shown at a, is

dropped from the rope, and this strand (1 pre erably is substituted for the hem or other core 1 of the wire rope as shown in ig.

3, for up to fifty feet of the rope length or for sufficient length to securely hold the.

dropped strand a. A hemp or other core 1' of suitable size to secure a properly dimensioned six strand rope is then placed in the rope until a further reduction in rope diameter is required. Then the sixth strand 6 is dropped and preferablysubstituted for the core 1 for the required distance, as described above.

In substituting the dropped strand for the core, itImay be necessary to enlarge the strand to proper core size by suitable wrap-- ping, as shown in Figure 3. When the strand is too large and must be reduced in diameter, this may be accomplished by cutting out some of the strand wires in the tucked in section of the strand, as shown in Figure 5, and in order to make .the rope substantially uniform as to the character of the core throughout its length, the strand with dropped wires may be wrapped to the desired extent, as shown in Figure 5.

While the invention has been illustrated in connection with a fibre core, it will be understood that it may be used with ropes having a core of metal or other suitable material, or the broader features of the invention may be used with rope having no core.

I claim:

1. The method oftaperin a wire rope of the type having a core, whic consists in suc-, cessively decreasing the number of strands and substituting each dropped strand for the core through a substantial portion of the length of the rope.

2. A tapered wire rope having a successively decreasing number of strands.

3. A tapered wire rope having a decreasing number of strands and each dropped strand substituted for the rope core through a substantial portion of the length of the re e. v

2. The method of tapering a wire rope of the type having a hemp core, which consists in decreasing the size of the rope in steps by dropping a strand in each step, substituting the dropped strand for the core through a portion of the step, and substitutin a hemp core for the dropped strand throug the remainder of the step.

5. A tapered wire rope having its diameter decreased in steps, each step having the number of strands reduced relatively to the previous step and one of the strands of the previous step substituted for the core through a portion of the step, and having a hemp core through the remainder of the step.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM E. CRAIG. 

